Hi all -

I've found lots of great advice in these forums so far - what a great resource! But I'm still having a little trouble piecing it all together for myself. I thought I would describe my situation here, and see if anyone has some ideas for me.

I'm a freelance artist from outside the EU. This year I managed to get a one-year residence/work permit as a freelance artist - Aufenhaltserlaubnis, Selbständige Tätigkeit nicht gestattet mit Ausnahme der Tätigkeit als freiberuflicher Künstler (no working, with the exception of working as a freelance artist). In mid-January I have to go back to the Ausländerbehörde to renew the permit. I'm having some problems with health insurance and income (and my lovelife, but that's another story...)

Income - I didn't earn very much in Germany this year, only about 5000 euros. Mostly I've been working off a grant I got at home before I came here. But now I'm dipping into my retirement savings. I think the Ausländerbehörde wants to see something like 800 euros a month net, so I'm way below that. I'm hoping that showing them my retirement savings will allow me to stay. Does anyone have any experience with that? The letter from the Ausländerbehörde says I should bring:

work contract and job certificate (doesn't apply to me)
oder
Prüfungsbereicht over my freelance work, which must be filled out by an accountant (Steuerberater, Wirtschaftsprüfer oder Steuerbevollmächtigen ausgefüllter)
oder
proof of my own assets ("eigenes ausreichendes Vermögen") - I guess this would be my retirement savings?
oder
paperwork from the jobcenter/sozialamt (doesn't apply to me).

I downloaded the Prüfungsbereicht form (h**p://www.berlin.de/formularserver/formular.php?78234) and it seems pretty heavy (and expensive to get done?), going over everything monthly for the last three years... Is this really necessary? It seems like overkill for my situation. Also, so far I haven't done anything about taxes, since I haven't yet completed my first year in Germany, and also because I earned so little. I was hoping I could just go to the Ausländerbehörde and show them the retirement savings, without having to shell out a lot of money for a Steuerberater just to prove that, no, I didn't actually earn enough money! But now I'm afraid that since my reason for being here is the freelance work, they're not going to go for that. I suppose I need to write them a letter, or talk to a lawyer or accountant, but I thought I'd ask about it here first, in case anyone has been through a similar situation.

Health insurance - I applied to the Künstlersozialkasse (KSK), and have been waiting for about six months for their decision. From what I understand, freelance artists in Germany who earn more than 3.900,- euros net per year are legally required to join the KSK, which will then pay half of my contribution to public health and pension insurance, just like an employer. I chose TK as my preferred krankenkasse. A big difference is though, that the minimum assumed income for the insurance calculation is 408 euros per month, rather than the 1800 or so (or possibly 1225 with the new rules?) that would be used for a freelancer paying their own way with a public krankenkasse. Boy, did it ever take me a long time to figure that one out. For example, with a 10.000, euro net income, one would pay 160 per month; with a 5000 euro income, 80 euro per month. Anything much less than that and you're not eligible. Anyway, I just got their decision the other day, which was "nein". They ruled out a large part of my income on a technicality, putting me below the 3900 euro minimum. I'm going to try to fight it, since it seems like the KSK is the best deal for insurance for me. More letters and more laywers I suppose, but again I just wanted to check if anyone here has gone through something like this already.

Is it true that a freelancer normally doesn't have to pay the 19.9% of income for the pension insurance - rentenversicherung? I can't imagine the pension insurance ever doing me any good; it's quite possible that I won't be in Germany in my old age, and I'm skeptical of ever getting any of it back... If I go with the KSK, I do have to pay (half) the pension insurance. But it seems like it would still be cheaper than going "freiwillige" with a public krankenkasse if I have a low income. Assuming I could get the new 1225 minimum threshold, I calculated the crossover point as being about 1000 euros per month net - anything more than that and it would be cheaper to go as a normal freelancer and not pay the pension insurance. Does that sound about right? Hopefully I'll eventually be earning more than that, but it doesn't seem too likely in the near future.

I don't know what to think about private insurance. I'm in my 40's, (recently) single, with some minor (I hope) pre-existing health conditions. I have no plans for children (but you never know wink.gif. And I don't really have any idea how long I'll stay in Germany. From what I've read in the forums, I doubt I could find anything for less than about 200 euros per month. Is that about right? So I'd be just as well off with a public krankenkasse? Either way, it seems a bit more than I can reasonably afford right now.

It's taking so long with the KSK that I doubt I'll have any insurance in place by the time I have to go to the Ausländerbehörde. What are peoples' experiences with that, is it ok to say "I'm working on it" and show my correspondence with the KSK? Or are they really strict about it? Does anyone know where I could get some cheap & quick insurance, just for a couple of months, to make the Ausländerbeörde happy? When I moved here I got a kind of travel insurance, but that's not possible anymore since I've lived here longer than six months. All the "expat" schemes seem to want a 12-month contract.

Phew! I wasn't planning to write such a long post! Ok, the important points I'm trying to figure out:
- do I need, and where can I get, some cheap temporary health insurance to make the Ausländerbeörde happy while I wait for the KSK?
- do I need to go through the motions and expense of having a Steuerberater fill out this Prüfungsbericht, and/or a tax return?

Sorry if I'm asking questions that have been covered elsewhere. I just wanted to describe my situation, and see if anyone might point out anything obvious that I'm missing or misunderstanding, before I go off to the Ausländerbehörde and screw everything up :-) Thanks!